


a Collection of Firsts and a Second

by AmoraChinchilla



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-20 03:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/882402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmoraChinchilla/pseuds/AmoraChinchilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven first times and one second time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a Collection of Firsts and a Second

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short fic that I wrote for my friend's birthday, Karezi being her OTP. I only had three days to write it, so it's not the best or the longest, but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless.

 

 

The first time they met was in a game. Long before sgrub, of course. Just some ridiculous online game that Sollux had introduced him to, and that he was terrible at in every sense of the word. 

Their party consisted of a few different trolls, the only one Karkat knew being Sollux, naturally. And though it probably would have been much more productive to put someone who actually knew what they were doing in charge, Karkat had of course whined and grumbled continuously until there was no other choice.

 

The first line of dialog that he'd ever received from her was a simple thing. A question asked after he'd managed to get almost every member of their team killed at least twice throughout one game.

 

WHO 3V3N L3T SHOUTY MC GRUMBL3FUCK B3 T34M C4PT41N >:?

He could have easily ignored the statement. Or even kicked her from the game if he'd wanted to. But being that he was Karkat, and was never one to pass up an argument, this was not the case.

 

I HAPPEN TO BE TEAM CAPTAIN BECAUSE I AM A NATURAL HATCHED LEADER, AND IF ANY OF YOU FECULENT SHITHOLES WOULD BOTHER TO ACTUALLY LISTEN TO MY COMMANDS THEN WE WOULDN'T CURRENTLY BE FUCKED UP EVERY SINGLE ORIFICE OUR VARIOUS BODIES MIGHT POSSESS. SO PLEASE, DO ME A FAVOR AND STUFF A BONE BULGE DOWN YOUR GULLET BEFORE I RIP MY HAIR OUT OF MY HEAD IN INTENSE IRRITATION FOR YOUR TERRIBLE FUCKING LISTENING ABILITIES.

He had expected this person to be intimidated by his obviously menacing speech, but all she did was laugh at him. 

And she continued to laugh each time they played, and each time he replied to her. It got on his nerves more than anything, and eventually he just stopped playing altogether.

 

It was somewhat surprising when the following week someone he didn't quite know started trolling him.

The name "gallowsCalibrator" didn't really ring any bells, but as soon as he saw the ridiculous typing quirk, he knew exactly who this was. And, of course, he could not be any more irritated.

 

\-- gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] --

GC: H3Y YOU

GC: WHY H4V3NT YOU B33N ONL1N3 L4T3LY

GC: YOUR T34M 1S SUFF3R1NG, SHOUTY

GC: W3 4R3 4LL V3RY S4D 4ND LOST W1THOUT YOU

GC: H4H4H4H4 1M JUST K1DD1NG OF COURS3, OBV1OUSLY W3 4R3 DO1NG 4 MUCH B3TT3R JOB W1THOUT YOU 4ND YOUR S1LLY ORD3RS

CG: WOW, THAT'S ALL GOOD AND DANDY BUT WOULD YOU MIND EXPLAINING HOW THE EVERLOVING, BULGE-BUSTING FUCK YOU GOT MY USERNAME?

CG: BECAUSE AS FAR AS I'M AWARE, THAT PARTICULAR GAME GRUB HAS NO CONNECTION TO THIS CHAT CLIENT IN THE SLIGHTEST, AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THAT YOU COULD FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT FROM IT.

CG: WHICH MAKES ME VERY CONFUSED, BECAUSE HERE YOU ARE ANYWAY, LAUGHING YOUR ASS OF YET A-FUCKING-GAIN AT MY APPARENT INCOMPETENCE AS A LEADER.

CG: WHICH, I WILL POINT OUT IS NOT EVEN A THING. IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT ALL OF YOU ARE TERRIBLE AT LISTENING TO COMMANDS. LIKE SOME IDIOT BARK CREATURE THAT WOULD RATHER DEVOUR HIS OWN SHIT THAN LISTEN WHEN HIS OWNER GOES "NO."

GC: OH R34LLY? TH4TS FUNNY, TH3Y S33M TO L1ST3N TO M3 PR3TTY W3LL! 4ND TH3R3 1S 4 SHOCK1NG L4CK OF SH1T 34T1NG 4S W3LL

GC: 4S FOR HOW 1 4M T4LK1NG TO YOU NOW, T4 W4S K1ND 3NOUGH TO G1V3 M3 YOUR US3RN4M3

CG: OH COOL, LOOKS LIKE I KNOW THE PERSON I'M GOING TO CUT OPEN AND STRANGLE WITH HIS OWN INTESTINES WHEN I SEE HIM.

CG: WHY WOULD HE EVEN DO THAT, WHAT THE FUCK.

GC: 1 DONT KNOW, M4YB3 YOU SHOULD 4SK H1M 4BOUT TH4T

GC: 4NYW4Y 1 R34LLY W4S WOND3R1NG WHY YOU H4V3NT B33N ONL1N3

CG: WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE?

GC: W3LL TO B3 P3RF3CTLY FR4NK

GC: YOU 4R3 V3RY FUN TO 4NNOY

GC: 4ND YOUR R1D1CULOUS OUTBURSTS 4R3 3NT1R3LY H1L4ROUS >:]

CG: SO I TAKE IT THAT IF I COME BACK THEN YOU'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO PURPOSELY ANTAGONIZE ME IN ATTEMPT TO GET SOME KIND OF REACTION.

CG: WOW, THAT SURE DOES SOUND LIKE A THING I WANT TO SUBJECT MYSELF TO!!

CG: BECAUSE CLEARLY I AM SO DESPERATE TO PROLONG MY OWN PAIN AND SUFFERING BY WASTING MY TIME TALKING TO YOU AND HAVING YOU MAKE FUN OF ME, EVEN DESPITE KNOWING NOTHING ABOUT ME OTHER THAN MY VARIOUS BURSTS OF ELOQUENT RAGE.

GC: W3LL CONS1D3R1NG YOU H4V3NT BLOCK3D M3 Y3T 1 W1LL H4V3 TO 4SSUM3 TH4T, Y3S, TH4T 1S 3X4CTLY 4 TH1NG YOU 4R3 D3SP3R4T3 FOR

GC: OR 4T L34ST SOM3TH1NG TH4T YOU 4R3 W1LL1NG TO 3NDUR3

GC: 4NYW4Y, YOU SHOULD R34LLY T4K3 1T 4S 4 COMPL1M3NT!

GC: 1 B3T TH4T TH1S 1S TH3 F1RST T1M3 4 F3M4L3 H4S 3V3R T4K3N 3V3N TH3 SL1GHT3ST 1NT3R3ST 1N YOU WH4TSO3V3R >:]

CG: FUCK OFF.

 

She was right, though. Although he wouldn't be picking that game up again any time soon, he certainly managed to sit there and subect himself to several hours of torture from this girl.

 

For what reason, he couldn't be entirely sure. But in a weird way, she was sort of interesting.

Even if ridiculously annoying in many aspects.

 

\---

 

The first time he heard Terezi's voice, it was... different than he expected it to be, to say the least.

 

He had expected something sharp and shrill, like nails on a chalkboard or a blade clinking and scraping against something else similarly made of metal. 

This didn't seem to be the case, though. She was loud, perhaps not quite as much as him. But her voice still sounded sort of nice, and not raspy like the way his always seemed to be, with all his screaming when he got angry.

 

They had been talking for awhile online by this point. Half a sweep at least, he thought, although he couldn't say he remembered the exact date. It seemed much longer than that in any case, and as much as she could be said to get on his nerves, he had trouble imagining a time when she wasn't bothering him constantly. Just as he had trouble imagining a time when he didn't bother her right back. Terezi was not as bad as he'd thought she was originally, anyway.

 

She was less terrible to talk to than some of the other people he begrudgingly called "friends," so that had to mean something.

It was only when she gave a simple "Karkat? Are you there?" that he realized he hadn't spoken yet. Something that he was soon to rectify, leaning forward in his seat and resting his arms against the desk before he spoke into the headset he had on.

 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here. I was just trying to process the information that you're actually a girl, and didn't turn out to be some kind of freakish gurgling creature that would make my hear ducts bleed at the very sound of its peircing cries. I was so shocked that I had to lean back in my chair and process that information for a good five minutes, you see."

It seemed this would also be the first time he heard her laugh. Not the ridiculous cackle he had expected, surprisingly. Or at least not as much of a cackle as he thought it would be.

 

"It's a real shame," she replied, "I would have loved to get a chance to figure out your blood color, even if by screeching and/or gurgling into your hear ducts." It was a joke more than anything, even if she did seem to be weirdly interested in his blood color. More so than most people were, even past the usual "why the hell are you using gray?"

 

He could only roll his eyes, leaning his head against his hand as he replied. "Not like you're here to see it, anyway. Besides, in case you hadn't noticed it's not exactly a fucking open book when it comes to that shit. I don't get what everyone's obsession with wearing their blood on their sleeves is, but i can say quite frankly that I do not give half a shit. Literally speaking. I would not mull over that subject for even half the amount of time it took me to shit."

 

The rest of their conversation went as things usually did. It was surprisingly natural, really, talking to her like this, and he had to wonder why he'd ever felt the need to worry about this encounter in the first place.

\---

The first time he saw her, they were in the game. She had long since seen him (or smelled, he supposed. Pressed her nose against the screen and took a deep whiff, or maybe even a lick or two.)

The subject of appearances was old news to her. For obvious reasons, both the fact that she was blind and the fact that she had already technically "seen" him anyway.

 

Terezi had built his hive up, and he had passed through the gate. Standing on the top of her hive, he took in the sights of LOTAF, which was much nicer than his land. Where LOPAH coated in his own gross, mutant blood, pulsing with the sickening hue beneath his skin, LOTAF was much nicer, without a doubt. The mostly-teal landscape was pretty nice, or at least less terrible than any other given color it might have been otherwise. It was light, but not too bright for him, and the color reminded him of who he was supposed to be meeting in the first place.

 

First impressions tended to stick, most of the time. And in his head he still had this sort of childish idea of what she looked like. This short little thing with big, sharp teeth and bones jutting out everywhere in the most disturbing sort of way. Sharp horns that probably jutted out of her skull in a terrifying way, more like blades than horns. He'd built up this idea after their first few conversations, and though he knew that was very unlikely to be what she looked like at all, it was a little hard to change that idea that he had of her.

 

Until he saw her, that was, and every idea he'd previously had was promptly chucked out the window with the sight of her. She was equal parts pretty and intimidating, although he promptly pushed the former of the two out of his mind, wondering why he'd even thought that in the first place. It seemed pretty ridiculous to him to be thinking so much about his friend's appearances, and he couldn't recall another time when he even bothered to care.

 

Soon they way she looked wasn't even a factor, anyway, as he observed instead the way that she fought beside him, and how good a team they actually seemed to make. He felt a little proud of himself, somehow, maybe because this time around she didn't feel the need to call his skills in a team setting ridiculously terrible in every way.

 

Karkat would be lying if he said that he didn't admire her more and more, though. The way she moved so well, even without her sight, and took on several creatures at a time, like it was nothing. Some were unavoidable, of course, but she still managed to handle it in a way that he could only describe as "ridiculously badasss." Even if he wouldn't admit that to her face.

Perhaps even more admirable, though, was the fact that she didn't run into these things blindly, so to speak. She knew when to plan things out, and probably saved his hide more than once- a favor which he was sure to return when it was needed. She couldn't make fun of him for needing to be saved if the same situation applied to her, after all.

 

It wasn't until he had spent a few hours with her that he considered the fact that he really did like this girl.

 

Terezi Pyrope was a very interesting person, to say the least.

 

\---

 

His first kiss was the next day. Although, he wasn't really sure if he could call it much of a kiss at all. It wasn't the sort of thing that he saw in his movies. Nothing long and passionate between two people who had experienced way too much sexual tension throughout the movie.

 

But it was nice.

 

Most of the imps had been cleared out. They had just fought three ogres, and were now taking a short rest in one of the many big structures in Terezi's land. They didn't serve much purpose, other than for meaningless puzzles that he didn't really care all that much about. This one in particular, they'd already finished with. It ensured, at least, that monsters were less likely to sneak up on them while they rested.

Karkat couldn't say he was entirely sure of how it happened. They were just sitting around talking, and she had leaned her head against his shoulder. Usually he would recoil from contact like that, or try to get away from the situation as quickly as possible, but he didn't this time. He simply glanced over at her with a sort of suspicious look. Terezi only continued talking as though nothing had happened, though, and he soon relaxed- as much as Karkat could ever be said to relax, anyway- and did the same.

 

It was only when she mentioned that they should get going that it happened. Terezi stood up, offering him a hand. When he took it she pulled him up to his feet.

And, when she did this, she was sure to lean in, just pressing her lips to his as he got up fully.

 

He didn't blush. Karkat had to keep his blood a secret, and he damn well wasn't about to bring that whole ordeal into light by lighting up with red.

 

He was mostly just frozen in place, lips puckered just slightly and not entirely sure of what to do. It was a nice feeling, of course, but he had always assumed that this would be something that would come so naturally. That someone would kiss him and his brain would just know what to do, but when he tried to get it to work it was about as useful as his attempts at getting his computer screen unfrozen.

 Needless to say, that meant it didn't work very well.

 

It seemed like forever before she pulled away, and at the same time it felt like not nearly enough time had passed. It was probably only a couple of seconds in truth, if he had to guess.

Even when she had moved back, he seemed frozen in place, lips still sort of half-puckered. It made her giggle, and she gave a simple statement of "Interesting" before she turned to walk back outside. It left him with only a few seconds to process what had just happened.

 

His conclusion was simple: They had to do that again. Preferably, sometime when he wasn't frozen like a hoof creature in the headlights of a particularly menacing scuttlebuggy.

 

\---

 

The first time they broke up was on account of some pretty petty things, he thought.

 

His own jealousy and the dumb feelings that he had for her, which pulled him in every which way. Karkat felt like he was going to burst open and that all of his guts would spill out of him in the most disgusting manner, along with the disgusting swill that ran through his veins.

And it would be all because of Terezi, for a reason that he couldn't exactly blame her for.

 

To be honest, though, he was pretty sure that was preferable to what he was enduring currently. Instead of slowly being pulled in every different direction, he just felt a sort of pain where his blood pusher was. Like it had been ripped out and hidden somewhere, and he wasn't sure of where to look for it.

 

And in time he would do some pretty dumb things to make up for this pain, as though he could fix it without really addressing the problem in the first place.

 

Past Karkat was pretty fucking dumb, he thought to himself just about every time he was finished with these ridiculous, stupid, childish escapades.

Eventually, though, he stopped blaming it on "past Karkat," and started blaming it on the guy whose fault it was in the first place.

 

Maybe he needed it, to mature a little and work out some of the flaws to his personality. Get rid of the things that made him cringe and realize the things that he hadn't before. It probably didn't have to be this terrible and expierence, but either way he had to accept that it was probably for the best.

The thing he made the biggest point to absorb into his mind, though. The one thing that he consciously decided among all else to beat into his own skull was a simple concept that was sort of hard for him to swallow, personally. But it was something he knew he needed to realize.

 

He should just want her to be happy.

 

God, did he want her to be happy.

 

\---

 

The first time he talked to her- really talked to her- after about a sweep, she was a mess.

 

Sleeping in a pile of gross sugary swill and seemingly having lost her pants, like he'd seen so many times before this.

It hurt to see her this way, and he couldn't let this go on any longer.

The conversation that he continued to have with her- and Dave, of course, giving his occasional input and being weirdly against his use of a chair- was even more painful. If only because he couldn't fathom the fact that she could ever think that she was anything less than fantastic. Even if she was going through some stuff right now.

 

Karkat would do his best to help her through it, though. He didn't think he could just sit there and watch anymore.

 

\---

 

The first time they got back together, it was a surprising thing to him.

 

It was no secret that he'd given up on her. And for as much as he cared about and loved her, it was also no secret that he was happy just being her friend, so long as she was happy.

It started with a simple, curious, "do you think things will ever be like they used to?"

 

The answer, of course, was a no. "I don't think that things will ever really get back to what we might have considered "normal" at one point in time. Not after all the shit that we've been through."

 

And, cautiously, his statement was met with another question of "Do you think we'll ever be happy again?"

 

He had to think about that one for a minute. It was a hard question to answer, even if he knew she probably just wanted a statement packed with hope and packaged in a coating of sugar right now. They could probably both use that, really.

In truth, though, he had absolutely no idea.

 

"I'm not sure. I think that there's got to be some point on the timeline where everything's okay, at least relatively. After everything we've gone through, it can't exactly get much worse. Paradox space has thrown every twist and turn at us it could possibly come up with, and I guess that at least one of us is worse for wear because of it. It might take awhile to get shit back on track, but I'm pretty sure that if we can get through it alive then everything after that will be a lot easier." Karkat would like to think that they could do that, anyway. Hoped to whatever gods existed that they could, if only because Terezi really did deserve to be happy.

She was leaning against him right now, fingers idly tracing patterns in his shirt. Her eyes were closed, and it seemed that this was one of those times when things were just too bright for her to want to keep them open. Or maybe, he guessed, she was just as tired as he was. That wouldn't shock him; they had been through a lot in the last couple of days. The last couple of sweeps, really.

 

It was a minute before she spoke up again. A simple "You make things easier" coming from her, which was meaningful within itself, with how much she hated to accept help from anyone.

He nodded his head at the comment, closing his own eyes for now. "That's what I'm here for. To make things slightly less terrible for you."

 

The sigh that she gave was a soft one, and he could barely hear it. Karkat couldn't quite tell if it was of content or tiredness, but he doubted that it mattered all that much.

The next thing that she said was a simple "I missed you, you know," and for some reason that statement came as a surprise to him. It seemed weird to think that she had thought about him in the time they were apart, but he supposed that logically it made sense. Even if their relationship had failed, they had still been very close. It wasn't shocking that it would hurt her, too, for the both of them to suddenly stop talking. Even if at the time she'd had someone much, much better than him.

 

It surprised him, though, when she brought up the question "Do you think we could try again?"

 

It confused him, even, because that's what he assumed they were doing right now. Trying this whole friendship thing again. It took him a second to process what she was talking about, and he could only give a small nod before he replied with "I'd like that."

It was an understatement, of course. But he wouldn't bother her with his gush of emotions, or the feeling that welled up in his chest. It wasn't pain, this time, and he was relieved by this fact.

At his answer, she sat up a little straighter. Her eyes opened and she turned to more directly face him, rather than lean against him like she had been doing.

 

And then, she kissed him. 

 

\---

 

This was the second.

 

Much like the first time, he was frozen at first. But that didn't last for long.

Instead of childish uncertainty and ignorance to how exactly this was all supposed to go, this kiss was different. Initially, it was a simple press of their lips, probably meant to be a short, simple gesture.

But it developed quickly, both of them melting into the other. This one was filled with sweetness and passion and hope, and all the things they'd never gotten the chance to experience with each other before.

It was a good feeling. Still nothing like his movies. No, they couldn't really capture the beauty of all of this. The way they fit together perfectly, or how warm they were holding each other, or how perfect their lips felt, no matter how capped or coarse they might have been.

 

His movies could never convey this feeling. And he hadn't really known that until now, when suddenly every movie-made kiss in history paled in comparison to this one, even with bumping noses and clacking teeth.

 

He could hardly believe this had all started with a stupid game.


End file.
